Archive for Dec 23, 2011

Sony recently posted some good news for Tablet S and Tablet P owners, confirming that the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update will indeed be rolling out to both devices. The news was posted in Sony UK's community forums, but the company hasn't confirmed yet when this update will arrive.

Google's Android may be leading the US smartphone market, but when it comes to mobile online shopping, Apple's iOS dominates. According to a study by retail analysis firm RichRelevance, 92 percent of mobile online sales in 2011 came from iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung has revealed that its Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet will not be getting the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. The company explained that the devices could not be updated due to hardware limitations that would not be able to run the new Android platform alongside Samsung's custom TouchWiz user interface.

Despite reported WiFi signal problems with the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih is optimistic about his company's tablet shipments for next year. He expects that ASUS will ship three to six million tablets in 2012, a major boost up from the estimated 1.8 million units in 2011.

With all attention turned to the Galaxy Nexus in these last weeks of the year, one should not fail to consider that there is an alternative for those of you out there in No Verizon Land, and it goes by the name of Galaxy S II. This device is a suite of devices, for those of you that haven't heard of it, and we've reviewed every single one of them (or pretty darn near) here on SlashGear. What you're about to dive into is an exploration of this family of devices courtesy of hands-on videos from our review team, everything from the original to the one with the longest name in Android history to the time Chris Davies did a video in a rally car. This is no ordinary phone, and your money is best spent here.

There's nothing quite like a flashmob these days, ladies and gentlemen, and when it comes to massive displays of unequivicle awesomeness, there's no better way to display it than with a bunch of lightsabers: thus the combination has been made to celebrate the start of the multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic. This particular flash mob took place at night in Times Square in New York, and you simply must watch the majority of the video to get the full effect. How people standing still while epic music plays can have such an effect, I'll never know.

Earlier this month, Apple opened a new store inside New York City’s Grand Central Station. This is not Apple’s only store in Manhattan and does not make a dramatic architectural statement like its Cube on Fifth Avenue. Much of its retail model has been seen before in other Apple stores. Yet when I visited it just before it opened it felt radically different than any other retail environment – even different from other Apple stores – and serves as an object lesson for how to sell and support digital products at retail in an increasingly online world. Even if you dislike Apple’s products (or just some of its more enthusiastic fans), if you’re in Manhattan, Apple’s store is worth a visit. Apple claims that it sells more per square foot than any other major retailer in the world, and while some of that is due to products that sell well on their own, Apple’s retail store processes, compensation structure, and architecture all play roles worth investigating.

This month we bore witness to Motorola's newest wave of Android tablets, that being both the DROID XYBOARD 10.1 and the DROID XYBOARD 8.2, both of them great candidates for replacing your now-aging XOOM tablet if you bought in to the Android tablet game earlier this year, and fabulous places for those new to Android to jump in on this game for a high quality experience - now have a look at all of our hands-on videos here in one post, as well as our final judgement on whether or not you should pick one up. We've got hands-on videos of both models of what's also known as the XOOM 2 here as well as glances at the accessories you can pick up from Verizon as well. Let them be judged!

When it comes to Android device releases, nothing is more exciting than a Nexus smartphone or tablet, except when it comes to the Samsung line of Galaxy S devices of course - and today we've got what very well may be the next generation: the Samsung Galaxy S III in leaked press images and details. The story goes like this: Concept Phones, a blog that specializes in conceptual renderings of devices, has intercepted a couple of images and some details sent in from a fellow by the name of Ivan Ilchenko who reported them appearing on Samsung's "official" page on a Russian social network by the name of Vkontakte. If you've got all that, good, because here's the confusing part: the device may well be the first smartphone to be dual-booting Android and Bada OS right out of the box.

I like products that look really old, but have modern insides. Yamaha has a new amplifier for musicians that look like something out of the 50's to me. The amps come in two versions including the THR5 pictured and the THR10. These are small amps reports Wired looking like the head unit of a stack. I've got so little music talent in me I have no idea what size that would be.

Oh hell yea, this may be the most awesome bit of death machine engineering in history of things sure to kill or maim. What you are looking at here is a 250hp, Ferrari-powered quad with slicks all around. This little beast is called the Lazareth Wazuma V8F. The beastie gets a 3.0L Ferrari V8 engine hiding underneath that thin bodywork.

The Kia Ray may well be the ugliest EV I have seen in a long time. It's boxy and square and makes the Prius look good if you ask me. Aside from the questionable looks of the car, it has some interesting features that make it stand out among the EV crowd. The coolest feature is the optional fast charge system that would charge the battery cells in only 25 minutes.